Travel vs Rec

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Want to get some other coaches opinions about players doing both travel & rec ball. The reason I'm asking is right after tryouts in the fall all of our players were told we did NOT want them playing rec ball since some rules, coaching are sometimes different along with the fact we didn't want the girls getting "burned out" before the end of travel season also of course there is always conflicts between the 2 schedules. What i want to know is what to do when you have players/parents all be given the rules sign off on them then sign up for rec anyway and are missing travel practice to attend rec practice? We have a full roster and could bench the ones who did this. Is this what any of you other coaches would do?

 

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I tell my travel kids to play up, as they want to have some fun with there friends

 

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rec is just for fun, travel should not be missed for rec anything

 

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We feel the same that travel comes 1st especially since for travel you tryout, pay a not so small fee. I feel if the girl chooses to miss travel practice for rec she should have turned down the invitation to become part of the travel team and only play rec, there were girls not chosen who would have been fully committed to travel. AM I WRONG?

 

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We do both. ?From the start travel takes presidence over rec. anything or private instruction. ?The rec is just for mound time more or less. ??Although it is nice to see dd chillin with school friends and seeing old friends ourselves as well as meeting some new ones. ?But its a far cry from the dedication and focus it takes playing travel. ?It's my experience that the higher end rec players don't get much better because so much time has to be spent on the girls with lesser skills. ??On top of that, you only have a short amount of time to get rec team practices in before the real games start. ?On the flip side, a travel team can practice for 8 to 10 months before tournements start. ?Lots of one on one coaching in hitting, fielding,baserunning, defensive rotations etc. can be accomplished in that time. ?If a travel player is missing practice to play or practice with her rec team, it sounds like her parents are doing it for their convenience or they have conflicting schedules, but they should have considered this before doubling up. ??Then you, as a coach, do what is convenient and just for your travel team, which is sitting her butt on the bench. ?The bad thing is, it seems you have to punish the girl for the behavior of the parents. ?Even if that girl busts her butt at the few practices she shows up to. ?

 

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Kind of a tough call,....Usually by the time a player has played travel for a few years and is at the 14 and 16u levels, they don't care to play both and will select the one that suits their needs and abilities. As for the younger girls who may be entering travel for the first year, they and their parents may not be fully up to speed with the committment being expected of them. They may not want to cut off their childs school friends until they've experienced what travel is all about. Just a thought.

 

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DD plays both, as she wants to play with her school friends! Travel comes first and rec team knows that going into season. Her other close friends also play travel first and rec second. They play rec to also work on things you sometimes can not work on in travel but need to learn for the future. Like pitching and learning to bat and slap from the left side. I know some of the rec girls look up to the travel players and get help from the travel players as they realize their school teams will be better in the future. DD knows she has received lots of help from various coaches and likes helping the rec players learn what she has learned. They will be better leaders on your travel team and get to enjoy growing up with their friends--a win both ways.
She might just learn something in rec she can use at travel and help win you a game!

 

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My kids 10U and 12U want nothing to do with rec ball. They get into some very bad habits. Namely, taking something off the ball so they don't injure the first baseman. Also, everyone on here talks about commitment and yet everybody says travel ball comes first. What about the rec team that she is leaving high and dry. She is probably one of their best players. How do you think the other kids and parents feel when she drops her rec responsibilities at the mention of travel ball. You can't commit to both. To rec players, their games are just as important as the ASA state tournament.

 

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Ringer, if you know the rec ball coach reallllly well, practices can be scheduled opposite of travel ball responsibilities. ?Although this puts double duty on people that may be coaches on both rec and travel, its well worth it. ?Some times it's 6 days a week. ?And dd does not miss a single game or practice, rec or travel. ?It's a juggling act, but we knew that going in. ?Both ?teams have been very successful due to many hours of hard work on the girls part as well as coaches and parents. ?The problem arises when you do leave one team high and dry. ?Fortunatly our teams ?have the luxury of having two head coaches that stay in constant contact with each other, and support each others teams. ?We are even having a couple girls from the rec teams come out to our travel team practice to see what travel ball is all about. ?It's a great marriage of not just 2 teams, but 3. ?When we say its for the girls, its really for the girls. My previous post may not have reflected that. ? ?

 

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Ringer counld not have said it better alot of teams talk the talk but don't walk the walk
It's really funny how some teams THINK they are more important than others [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Its Softball and it should be fun

 

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My dd and a close friend of hers are on the same travel and rec team. We were told by the travel coaches that if she missed travel they would be sitting that weekend. Simple as that. Now what we did is take a travel schedule (practice and games) to our rec coach and he scheduled the games around our girls. That was awesome of him. Although we did end up with a couple conflicts (two with travel and 1 with track). So we have no more conflicts than the other girls who all take vacations and such during rec season.

 

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My dd plays both Travel and Rec. She has for the last 2 years, and is playing again this year. Travel Ball takes precidence over rec, but we try very hard not to miss either. I think in the past 2 years, she missed 1 rec league game for a tournament. The rec league games give her the opportunity to apply a new skill/pitch she has learned to game time.

 

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Do your rec leagues allow the girls to play both..Ours has a by law not allowing it..

 

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ragen, have you talked to the parents about this? Maybe they forgot that they agreed no rec.
I see both sides of the arguement people have presented here. Rec ball is fun and can be social time
for the girls as opposed to travel which is a lot of work. Travel ball girls get the opportunity to be leaders
to their rec ball teammates. I remember last year, we had a girl skip 2 tournament games for a rec ball
tournament. When she showed up later in the day for the third game, a girl that had been there all day was
sat and that girl was allowed to go in, what a mess.
This seems to have turned into an arguement for and against rec ball and kind of got away from your
original question...what should you do? I would talk to the parents and tell them travel takes priority over
rec and if they skip practices or games for rec games or practices, you will be left with no other option
but to bench them for that week/weekends game(s). At least give them a warning anyway.

 

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My dd plays on a travel team with girls from all over the state. They don't get to practice alot as a team. Just to stay in the groove, we have put a team together for the 270 league. It's 1 day a week for 5 weeks. Get some practice in during the week, and have some fun. We have girls from several travel teams that live in the Columbus area on this team and we are going to play up at 14u to keep them sharp. I don't think I would let my dd play on our city rec. league, it is just so different from travel ball, but she has not asked to play rec. ball either. Most of the teams playing in the 270 league are rec. league teams, so we will see how it goes. But to each, their own.

 

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Yes our rec league does allow the girls to play.

ninercoach,
Yes all parents were told at the beginning we did not want any of the girls playing rec for a few reasons some of which you got right away. All our parents agreed and all signed off on it, then we found out by mistake actually that we had a few playing rec so we said travel comes first since this was started before rec signups again all parents agreed.Now we have girls missing practice for rec practice this to us is unacceptable.We have also taken into consideration not just practices missed for rec but also how many practices have been missed by each player on our roster. We have many who NEVER miss and the same few who do are also the ones playing rec. I think we have done what is a fair assessment on each player.

 

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Our travel team allows the girls to play rec, and our rec league does not have any rule against girls playing travel. We have some people on the rec league board who do not want to cater to travel players, but it was quickly explained to them that, being a small league, alienating travel ball players(of which we have quite a few)would not be a good idea. Fortunately we have travel and rec ball coaches who work together to have as few schedule conflicts as possible.
As to your dilemma, you said you took into account absences of all players, not just the rec players, and they seem to be the least committed. I would restate the fact that travel needs to come first, and then take action if they don't get the point. Those players who are committed to the team should get more playing time.

 

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Please keep in mind that the Rec ball team and coach also lose out in these situations. Of course the travel team takes first priority. The kids on the rec team, who only play rec ball, lose out on their team mate who isn't there.
Our rec league holds a draft, you draft the kid who can play, they play travel and don't show up for rec ball. It's a lose-lose situation.

Rec ball is for fun for travel ball players but for rec ball only players--it's their main thing!

 

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Nutter, Nice post. I don't think it is fair for either coach or team. There is alot of work that goes into making a team run smoothly(if anyone has found the secret to that, please let me know ). It does hurt the rec team when one of their players just comes when they can. It also hurts the travel team when a player misses practice for a rec game. There is no winner in a situation like this.

Mike

 

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I say you stand behind what was signed.

However, my Dd plays both and we were up front with the rec coach from the beginning. He is great, he knows travel comes first and scheduled our games around the travel games. There are 2-3 conflicts which are no more than the girls who only play rec. My DD's travel team would only practice twice a month in the winter but her rec team would practice 2 to 3 times a week. The girls do play up at 14u in rec for better competition. The coach and the team are very understanding. There are girls on this rec team that soccer is first for them and they will miss a game to go to their soccer commitment. At 12 the girls need to be with friends and still play all the sports they love. They are trying to figure themselves out still.

I don't think it is ever appropriate to miss a travel practice for a rec practice. YOu need to talk to the parents, open communication is key.